Many people believe that motorcycle riders shouldn't be required to wear helmets because they will only be hurting themselves. One of the latest to state this is Charles Wheelan, The Naked Economist, in "Street Smarts: Economists Take on Traffic Safety" posted on Yahoo Finance on Jan. 8, 2008.
He wrote that "motorcyclists are most likely to harm themselves" and "that helmets save lives doesn't necessarily justify laws that motorcyclists wear them." Unfortunately, the harm of a motorcycle accident isn't limited to the riders.
First, emergency responders have to come to the scene. The greater the severity of the accident, the more time they have to spend at the scene. This could mean that the responders would not be available for other emergencies. In the case of volunteer responders, they could be called from their beds in the middle of the night.
Second, any accident can cause traffic delays. The longer the responders are at the scene, the longer traffic is delayed. In many cases, this could mean less productivity for those making deliveries, an economic by-product, aka externality.
Third, the care of a severely traumatized rider costs money. This will be coming from insurance and taxes. The care for a preventable injury is also limiting the care for others.
If motorcycle riders are truly harming only themselves, should we let their injured bodies lie by the side of the road? I wouldn't want our society to be like that.
